Stephen Curry--The Next Great Bracket Buster

Unless you are a college hoops junky or an avid Davidson College fan,you may not know much about the name Stephen Curry.You may have heard of his father Dell Curry,a sharp shooting sixteen year NBA veteran and Virginia Tech stand out.He may have inherited his father's ice cold shooting touch but his game is definitely not one dimensional.The 21 points per game he posted in his freshman year shows he is definitely not content with hiding in the shadow of his father.

In his freshman season for the Davidson Wildcats he led the team to and NCAA tournament berth.He torched unexpecting big time programs Michigan and Maryland for 32 and 30 respectively,the latter coming in a valiant losing effort in the first round of the tourney.He broke the freshman record for three pointers hitting 40% of his attempts.Have no doubt he plans to do nothing but improve those numbers for next season.

Calling him a two guard would indicate that his point guard skills are not up scratch-a statement thats far from the truth.Putting him on the point would waste his scoring prowess.A headache that current USA Under-19 team coach Jerry Wainwright knows all to well about.When he took the point for the U.S against China he dominated the fastbreak and showed some impressive long range passing to Mike Beasley on the break.He controlled the tempo of the game.But in his third game against a strong Serbian team,he used his shooting and all-round scoring to lead the U.S to a narrow victory with 19 points .He lets the game come to him he doesn't force the issue.He certainly couldn't be accused of being a chucker.He is currently posting a mad efficient 61%FG and an amazing 63.7% from beyond the arc.

So,to the five people who actually read this blog(am I estimating too high?) next March when your filling out your brackets remember Curry's game before you dismiss Davidson.When he starts to light it up you can brag to your friends and say you were on to him before the mass media and lambast them for sleeping on him.For them and any team who doesn't respect his game-they can't expect to get their brackets busted.

A Lewis-less Sonics May Expose Durant.

The NBA has set its Salary Cap for the 07/08 season at $55,630,000.This wll allow the Rashard Lewis to the Magic to go through.If Rashard signs with the Magic he will get $90mil for five years unless the Sonics and Magic agree to a sign-and-trade deal that will sign Lewis to a six year $126mil deal and a second round pick go to Seattle.

This makes the Magic the early favorites for the East with Lewis providing shooting relief to Dwight Howards exploits in the paint and gives the Magic a reason for never needing to use J.J Reddick.Even if this deal does make the East slightly more interesting-I don't like-at all.This puts Kevin Durant into the leadership role for the Sonics-a prospect that scares the shit out of me.He went from being second option to only scoring hope.Unlike Greg Oden he is being put into sink or swim first season.But I am a firm believer in Durants abilities and think he will thrive under pressure as long as he gets some back up in the form of a scorer(the return is Robert Swift from injury doesn't count).The Sonics have a great future if they do things right,a big IF but they seem to be making strides to try and not mess this up.They have cap room but no real tradable assets so the free agency is crucial for them.The missed out on Chauncey (not that they expressed an interest) and Vince is staying in swampland and the big names are running out.

For Durant's first season to be a success they will need a guard who knows how to score and defend-where will they find one? I'm not sure a trade involving Luke Ridnour and Wally Szcerjfegyfgdjhjdhuifiak.


For next season to work to the Sonics favor everyone else will need to step up,maybe get some production from the French foriegn legion because-Durant will do what he does.

The Meaninglessness of Life..I mean the Summer League

They both happenned,yes the monumental accasions that they were.Supposed history in the making,two players that will change the face of the game over the next few years and place themselves on the doorstep of greatness.Am I talking about the epic Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final?-NO this is basketball blog why would I be?
I am of course talking about the professional basketball debuts of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.Niether of whom exactly made a case for an All-Star berth,but who can in a Summer League game?What were people expecting to happen?That Oden does his best impression of Bill Russell and block thirteen shots or that Durant scores 40 in the first half.Remember that these two players are starting their basketball journey and whatever miracle performance that people were expecting won't come for some years yet.Durant is not yet nineteen.
They have just come off one of the most tiring experiences a professional athlete can have-the pre draft circus.They have had a week to prepare for this and are up against a gaggle of players who are in essence unemployed and fighting for a job.There is no doubt in my mind that both of them will improve,they are the reason that people are watching the Summer League(Well kind of).
Lets take Summer League performance logic and compare players based on performances.
Marco Bellinelli-MJ
LaMarcus Aldridge-Tim Duncan
Kevin Durant-DeShawn Stephenson
Greg Oden-DJ Mbenga

^Thats how meaningless the Summer League is.